


A Little Bug Named Snape

by Ebay_Garfield



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Snarity, Strangers to Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 14:55:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15439572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ebay_Garfield/pseuds/Ebay_Garfield
Summary: Charity Burbage is a people person. That’s why she asked a strange, quiet and mysterious coworker to tea.





	A Little Bug Named Snape

(The year is 1986. Severus is 26, and Charity is a little younger.)  
  
“Is that him? He’s so...”   
McGonagall smirked, still leaning the same way Charity did. As if they were sharing secrets. As if they were looking at a creature they’d never seen before. Like new friends.   
  
“Strange? Ominous? Scary?” She rapped her manicured nails on the hardwood table, still smirking. “He might seem that way but Mr.Snape isn’t half as bad as you might-“   
  
“Quiet.” She mumbled. McGonagall stopped smirking and turned only her head to look at her colleague with confusion. “Excuse me?” She seemed to take offence to Charity’s statement. Realisation dawned upon the young woman. “Oh! Oh, I don’t mean...” If she could visibly blush, she’d be red in the cheeks. “I just meant that he’s quiet. I wasn’t telling _you_ to be quiet or anything.” She explained with embarrassment colouring her voice. “You had better not have been.” McGonagall chuckled, prompting Charity to laugh too. Softly, if, a little distracted.   
  
Charity saw him again at breakfast the next morning. It wasn’t hard, she sat a row behind him at the staff tables. Other teachers chatted amiably amongst each other but he just ate some orange slices and read a book. McGonagall sat next to him, though she didn’t attempt to talk. No one really did. Charity crumpled up her muffin wrapper and got up to toss it in the bin, her mind made up. She took the long route around the whole right side of the table, specifically so that in order to reach the bin she’d have to go down his row. When she reached his seat she paused and stood right behind him. Silently, Charity peered over his shoulder at the book in his hand and read a couple of lines.   
  
It was science. Wizard science. Specifically the reaction between puff adder venom and a hard to pronounce concoction. She’d never know what it did though, because he shut the book. And suddenly he was glaring at her.   
  
“Would you please kindly _leave me alone?_ ” He growled in a low and dangerous tone. She took the message to heart and scampered off nervously.   
By the time she realised she had dropped her muffin wrapper it was too late.   
  
Clicking her worn out kitten heel shoes on the wood of her classroom floor while clicking her pen in and out on the side of her fluffy head of curls, (She’s allowed that pen to demonstrate to her students. This _is_ Muggle Studies after all.) Charity sighed and stared at the paper on her desk. The assignment was to write an essay about one thing you love in the wizarding world, and how it might translate in the muggle world. The goal was to show them how similar the two worlds were, along with numerous other little nuances.   
  
This student had said that he liked potions making, and compared it to chemistry. It was a wonderfully written essay, and followed the correct format while also showing care and passion in the subject. But she couldn’t stop thinking about it. It planted a little bug in her ear and she couldn’t stop it. A little bug named Severus Snape.   
  
On Monday she’d heard about him. On Tuesday she saw him at breakfast and pissed him off. On Wednesday she found out his name. On Thursday she was told what he taught and his classroom number. On Friday she didn’t think about him. Today she started associating that subject with him. He coloured her life now, and to be honest it made her feel content, but also antsy. So what was the next logical step? Befriend him obviously.   
  
Which is why she stood in the doorway of the Potions classroom on a Monday morning. Students filed out of the door so they could get to their next class. Charity slipped inside and looked around for his desk, where he was sure to be. And she was right.   
  
An imposing figure clad in dark clothing. He was really quite hard to miss among the little second years. He frowned at a young brunette girl with a poofy, in-style, hairdo as she seemed to regal about an explosion with large and sweeping hand gestures to go along with the story. Despite his frown he nodded almost understandingly and quirked his mouth in thought, his gaze seeming to travel to the right. Wether he was about to reply to her neither Charity nor the girl would know, because suddenly he had spotted the elephant in the room. His eyes widened a fraction as he stared back at her.   
  
His gaze snapped back to the young girl. “Go on then.” He waved her away like a bad dog, much to her dismay. “But!-“ “I won’t be excusing your absence if you’re late to your next class, Harriet. Go.” One of his pale hands swirled her around by one shoulder and pushed her forward by her back. The young girl whined but stormed away, glaring at Charity as she left. The classroom was empty now, save for the two of them. Suddenly Charity wasn’t sure why she had come here as she stared back at the man a few feet away from her. She usually wasn’t so nervous to make a friend.   
  
“Um.” She muttered intelligently. He raised a thick eyebrow and sat down at his desk. “I just...I’d like to know if you’d be interested in joining me for tea.” She blurted out. Met with silence, her confidence withered. “It’s alright if you don’t want to, of course.” She tried to sound as upbeat as she could, though the disappointment probably showed.   
  
“I would.” He spoke again, to her surprise. “Like to have a cup with you, that is.” Awkwardly he added on. It was as if her whole world lit up, so the biggest smile spread across her face. “When?” She chirped. “During our lunch break?” He suggested, earning a nod of agreement. And with that she left the classroom cheerfully. Severus watched her go. A new thought was forming in his mind, though it didn’t have words yet.


End file.
